News and information on hunting, archery and fishing in South and Central Texas. Boating, lake level and river level information provided for Braunig Lake, Lake Calaveras, Canyon Lake, Medina Lake and others. Whitetail deer and turkey season information and tips.

Trout treasure trove

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KERRVILLE — Rainbow trout fishing is a winter sport in Texas, the kind of angling treasure hunt that seems out of place where air temperatures are warm most of the year, too warm for cold-water fish such as rainbows.

Chancing onto the pot of fishing gold at the end of the rainbow seems even more unlikely in a year when water is in short supply and the flowing, aerated water that trout need is a rarity.

But there are places where clean, moving water can be found, a biological fact not lost on the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. For more than two decades, the department has operated a statewide put-and-take rainbow trout fishery, most notably in the tailrace waters below Canyon Dam.

That stretch of the Guadalupe River this month again is receiving the first of more than 18,000 rainbows to be stocked by TPWD. The trout are 9-12 inches long, and they are hatchery fish seeing wild water and fish hooks for the first time.

Like everything else in the outdoors, the extended drought across Central Texas is having an impact on that fishery and others like it. The TPWD program has been reduced by 10 percent this year because some stocking sites have inadequate water.

Volume in Hill Country rivers and creeks is as low as it has been in decades, and that includes releases from Canyon Lake: the source of cold, clear water for the Guadalupe River tailrace. The water release is sufficient, however, to support the trout fishery this winter.

The effects of the drought are hitting home at one of the region’s top private trophy rainbow fisheries, as well — the Shonto Ranch a few miles outside Kerrville on Lower Turtle Creek Road.

“Our lakes are a little low, but there is plenty of water here,” said ranch manager Chris Childs as he motioned to the 100-yard-long impoundment on spring-fed Fall Creek. The small, clear, cold tributary of Turtle Creek runs through the heart of the Shonto and is the lifeblood of the ranch’s trout fishery.

“We put the first shipment of trout in here in late November,” Childs said. “The fish are getting acclimated to the creek, but they were actively feeding right away.”

Childs brought in 225 rainbows from a hatchery in Missouri in his first stocking of the season. About half are in the 1-pound class and half are brood trout of about 5 pounds, and there are some 8-pounders in the pool as well.

The Shonto’s monster rainbows are familiar company to Midland angler Eric Carr, who has been fishing the Shonto for seven years. He was casting along the banks of Fall Creek shortly after the first stocking and landed 39 rainbows, three of which were in the 5-pound range.

“Rainbow fishing here can be incredible. I’ve had better days here,” Carr said, pausing to smile. “But that day was really great.”

Last week, Carr was taking part his second Shonto trout adventure of the season. He was with his brother, Tim, and they were using light spinning tackle and small, in-line Mepps spinners with great success.

The Carrs also try their hands at fly fishing and have enjoyed success on sinking flies, mentioning woolly buggers and San Juan worms specifically. This trip was a jewel for the spin-fishing brothers.

Eric Carr’s first fish of the morning was a monster more than 21 inches long and as thick as a loaf of bread. The fish had “shoulders,” as the saying goes.

The huge rainbow inhaled a small, golden in-line spinner, and it wasn’t the last Missouri mule to be hit by the Carrs. Mixed in with about 20 fish taken before lunch were two more of the huge rainbows.

“As long as it stays overcast with the low-light conditions like this, the bite will be steady,” Eric Carr said.

Steady it was, with brother Tim catching his share of trout, including one big brood fish.

As the day brightened, a few largemouth black bass in the 2-pound class assaulted the lures.

“I fish here several times a year when it’s warmer,” said Eric Carr. “And I’ve had days when I catch dozens of largemouths.”

The Shonto is known as one of the premier axis and whitetail hunting ranches in the Hill Country, but Childs can accommodate anglers year-round. Fall Creek has several impoundments, and each holds clear water with lots of moss, boulders and woody debris — classic largemouth habitat.

The Shonto’s bass and trout fisheries are managed as catch-and-release waters. The rainbows and bass that were fooled by the Carrs were released. To make things easier for catch and release, the Carrs mashed down the barbs on the lures.

With cool weather and rainbow trout season in full force, Childs is prepping for more action.

“I have another shipment of about 300 trout coming in around the middle December,” he said. “It will be the same mix of sizes, some really big fish in there again.”